Trouble is Always Around the Corner
by Lafayette1777
Summary: One-shots of Holly and Trouble. They deserve eachother.
1. Major

"Excuse me." The councilman interjected. "But I have a final question."

Holly Short waited. Her heart was thudding like it never had before. Standing in front of the line of powerful fairies was more nerve racking then she had anticipated. They sat in front of a long desk, staring at her coldly. If her previous record hadn't screwed her over already, her hasty answers to their questions and terrified expression would do it.

"What is the most important thing that you have learned while working in the Lower Elements Police?"

She paused. It was a puzzling question, exactly what the councilman wanted. Was it really her opinion? Or was he looking for an answer that everyone agreed on?

As it had turned out, fulfilling Julius Root's wishes for her career was harder than she had expected. She knew she had to, though. Julius may be gone, but his teachings lived on. She had a duty to the People.

The words were out before she could think to say something different. "I guess what I've learned is...everything happens for a reason. What seems like something terrible at first, might lead to something better than you could have hoped for."

To her surprise, the councilman smiled. "Well said." He looked to his colleagues and nodded.

LEP Commander Trouble Kelp moved from leaning against the wall in the back corner of the room. He approached her smiling proudly. Standing in front of her, he pulled something from his pocket. Two small somethings.

"Congratulations, _Major_ Holly Short." He pinned the gold acres on her lapel.

She grinned.

The council clapped politely. The real party would be later, once they got back to the Police Plaza. In light of her achievements in the last few years, all sexist jokes had ceased. She had finally earned the respect of her fellow officers. There was also the fact that if Trouble ever heard any kind of biased remark, he would punish the officer severely. Even if it wasn't directed at Holly, he stood for equality in the workplace. He was a visionary by anyone's standards.

"We are more advanced then the Mud Men in technology." He told his superiors. "We should be just as advanced in the social aspects of life. It's our responsibility."


	2. Distractions

Commander Trouble Kelp was not the type to become distracted. He was very focused at work, it was part of the reason he was so good at his job. He was determined.

The only thing that could take Trouble's focus from his work was Holly Short.

From the moment she walks in to the Police Plaza, his eyes are drawn to her. She is powerful. She is strong. She is determined. She is kind. She is intelligent. She is colorful. She's a damn good cop.

"Morning Commander." She says. His heart skips a beat. He smiles at her.

"Good Morning, Major Short." She glides past him toward her office. She is his second in command. No officer deserves the post more than her, after all she's survived, all she's done for the People.

He glances at the portrait of Julius Root hanging next to his office door. It's a natural picture, Julius is smoking a cigar, smiling heartily. Trouble wondered when the picture was taken, the former commander looks friendlier than Trouble ever saw him. He's staring at the picture, thinking of Holly, of course, when he realizes a presence next to him.

"Grub," He says without looking at his brother. "You have work to do."

"Aren't we supposed to address eachother by rank?" Grub shoots back. "We are at work you know."

"Sorry, _Corporal_ Kelp." He says. "Get to work."

"I saw you drooling over Holly." Grub smirks. "Next time close your mouth." He tries to lean casually against the wall, but misses and loses his balance.

"First of all, we both know that you're not smooth enough to pull off a comment like that." He allows himself a scathing glance in Grub's direction. "Second, I was not drooling over the Major."

Grub shrugged. "Whatever you say. But your failing miserably at lying."

"Grub if you don't get out of my sight in 10 seconds, you'll be working traffic duty for the next 3 months."

Grub was gone before 5 seconds had passed.

Trouble sighed. The door to his office slid open, and pushed the button for the intercom.

"Detective Mulch Diggums report to the Commander's office immediately. Over."

20 minutes later the dwarf arrived Trouble's office. He scowled as the detective took a seat in front of his desk. The light in the office was dim, lit mostly by several plasma screens on the wall, illuminating the piles of paper on the desk. "What took you so long, Diggums?"

"Oh, you know...work."

"I've gotten several reports of kleptomania in the workplace. And several reports of gambling, Mulch. Funny how it always seems to involve you." He paused, looking through the file of complaints. Mulch waited. "I won't stand for this, Mulch. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Mulch met his eyes cooly.

"The only reason you're not in prison right now is because Major Short recommended you for this position. She's put her job on the line for you, Diggums, and if you can't conform to the expectations of this office, your position will be terminated. One more offense, and you're done. Do you understand me?" He said this calmly. People tended to react better if you weren't yelling at them.

Mulch nodded. No matter how much he enjoyed defying authority, he valued this job too much. For now.

"You may leave." Mulch stood.

Kelp followed him out, but in the hallway turned the opposite direction. He didn't realize where he was until he was standing in front of her office door.

The door opened from the inside and Trouble jumped backward. Holly's eyes were on a clipboard in her arms. She looked up and when she saw him her face exploded into a huge grin.

"Holly," Trouble said, before he lost his nerve. "Are you free tonight?"


	3. Perfection

The moon was full. More bright than Trouble had ever seen it.

They came up through Tara, despite the fact that it was full of fairies drawn to the surface on a night as perfect as this. A wave of the badge got them to the front of the line. Since they were still in uniform, anything they did could be considered "Police Business", though this had nothing to do with crime. On top, they left Tara swiftly, wings carrying them far away. Holly was leading, he didn't pay attention to where they were going. The landscape was stunning. Ireland never failed to take his breath away. It was something every fairy shared- an appreciation for the Earth they were forced to leave. No wonder they were resentful of humans.

It wasn't until they landed that Trouble realized where they were. In the weeks after the Fowl Siege, Trouble had been filing away the details of the case in the master archive, every tiny aspect of the case put away for the future. It was grueling work, longest three weeks of his long life. But he had become acquainted with the case, more so then he had previously. He'd been out for most of the siege after Butler took out his entire retrieval team, himself included. He'd been underground for medical attention before they'd even issued the time stop.

He recognized Holly's chosen landing point. Ritual sight #57, the place where Artemis Fowl kidnapped her, that night so many years ago. He wondered why she had chosen this spot. Perhaps it was a strange connection, a place of pain and fear, mixed with friendship and nostalgia.

"I always come here to refuel." She said, hand sliding down the bark of the ancient oak. "Arguably what happened here was the most obvious turning point in my life."

Trouble allowed himself to imagine what life would be like if Artemis Fowl never successfully kidnapped a fairy. He was sure that it would have been different, these last few years, and definitely not for the better. Opal Koboi would have gone ahead with her goblin rebellion, and she probably would have won, and gods know what kind of terrible fate they'd be enduring right now.

He stepped closer to the stream, removing his helmet and wings. Without the heavy machinery, he felt unburdened, free in the cold Irish breeze, the crisp air filling his lungs. This was heaven. How could the People have ever managed to have left the surface? He couldn't believe what kind of pain might've been behind that decision, and whoever had had to make it.

He felt a presence, and Holly's fingers slipping through his. Her fingers were warm, her hand soft. _This _was heaven. No doubt there.

_Author's note: Recently I've been rereading all the books, re-acquainting myself with the world of Artemis Fowl and the People. The moments involving Trouble kelp are sparse, but gratifying, and giggle at the level of detail Eoin Colfer puts into his writing. _

"_If you're looking for Trouble, he's right here." Gotta love it. Please Review!:)_


	4. Shambles

Chute E37 was a shit hole, but a shit hole full of memories nonetheless.

Major Holly Short allowed herself a moment of nostalgia as she gathered her retrieval team in the terminal. Generally, a elf of her rank didn't go on these sort of missions anymore, but she'd assigned herself to this one, feeling she needed a change. The mission would be tricky, but that's exactly what had drawn Holly to it in the first place.

Captain Demetri Fauna, Captain Lili Frond, Captain Terra Moray, Major Chix Verbil, and because she owed the commander, and Grub had begged her, Corporal Grub Kelp. They were good officers, assuming Grub didn't shoot himself in the foot by accident. Frond wasn't her old bimbo self, she had become a lot more rough and tumble over the last few years, cutting her hair and giving up on wearing make-up to work. Holly could legitimately call her a friend. Terra was a large women, by elf standards, an inch and a half over three feet and muscled too. She was new to recon, but was the top of her class at the Academy. Demetri was a skinny guy, but courageous and quick thinking. Chix, despite his interest in flirting with his female colleagues, was a sprite that was good at his job, despite the fact that, earlier that very day, while trying to flirt with Terra, and his nose had been broken. It was still being called an "accident", and nobody decided to say differently.

"Ok, Ladies and Gentlemen, listen up." Holly said. They snapped to attention. "There's a rogue troll in that shoot, so you know what that means. In no way will this be simple or easy. He's trapped in there, angry and in pain. Not a good combination. The terrain is difficult, clean up crews haven't been able to get in there since the last time anyone was in there." She tried not to think about the events of her last visit to E37, in which she'd watched Julius' murder at the hands of Opal Koboi. "So shields on, weapons ready, surround the beast, and with luck, this won't get too messy."

c c c

Once inside the chute, the state of things was a lot worse then they expected. Due to the ultra thick nature of the chute walls, none of Foaly's instruments could get bio readings on the inside, all they had to go on was the one camera, high in a corner, that was at a low vantage point and had poor quality to say the least. Foaly had been embarrassed to admit that he had not updated the E37 security in quite some time. The transmissions in and out were fuzzy as well, and there were certain dead spots where the Police Plaza could neither see nor hear what was going on. It all added to one very hazardous recon.

Even the troll itself was more difficult than usual. Taller than average, it towered over the tiny fairies at what could easily be twelve feet. It's eyes appeared to be damaged, because it romped around the concrete chute deftly. Which meant light wouldn't effect it. Holly could almost feel sorry for the beast. Lost, blinded, tired, angry, in pain. She would do her best to capture him live.

Despite their dangerous opponent, the fairies followed orders fearlessly, encircling the troll and waiting for the order to open fire. All bets were off on the outcome of this mission. If they were very lucky, they's make it out with little to know casualties. Holly knew very well that luck was rarely on her side. Hamburg, Italy, everyone of the Artemis Fowl adventures... She was still alive though, so that counted for something.

Holly spoke into her helmet mike. "Check in."

"One, in position." Demetri.

"Two, ready to fire." Lili.

"Three, terrified but alive." Chix.

"Four, this is about to get hairy." Terra.

"Five, why the hell did I do this?" Grub, of course.

"Good work. Fire in three." Holly powered up her Neutrino 4000.

"Three...two...one."

The fired in perfect synchronization, hitting the troll directly in the weak point at the base of the skull. This did not have the desired effect. This specific troll had been born with an abnormally large amount of cartilage at the base of the skull, and it was not as damaging as they would have liked. But they didn't know that, all they knew was that things were about to get a lot worse.

The beast roared, a guttural, horrifying sound. It whipped out a clawed arm wildly, and caught Lili Frond right in chest. She soared backward and landed painfully, a good twenty feet from her place of origin.

"Man down, man down." Holly called into her mike. "Further casualties expected." All she heard was static from the Police Plaza.

"Dammit, Foaly."

She boosted the power in her hand gun, and gave the orders for the others to do the same. One more shot, and if that didn't put the troll out, they were getting the hell out of here.

"Fire!"

The beast screeched in agony, but didn't go down. Quick as lightning, it grabbed Grub Kelp around his neck, hoisting the young man into the air. Blue sparks circled around Grub as his body fought to repair his steadily cracking ribs and punctured lungs. Holly didn't have time to think before she clawing her way up the troll's back. She would not let the commander's brother die. Not let _Trouble's_ brother die.

She nuzzled the gun right up under the troll's furry chin, the smell overwhelming. Her gun on high, she gave him a quick blast of concentrated heat. He dropped grub, but grabbed Holly around her torso and flung her to the ground.

Her arm and thigh shattered on impact with the ground, and she could feel the concussion and whiplash almost immediately. The blue sparks licked up her limbs. With luck, her magic would hold out. It had been a while since she'd done the ritual, which was often the case with Holly.

Through her half closed eyes, she saw Lili Frond getting to her feet as Demetri and Terra flitted about, alternating blasts of heat. They never stayed in one place to long, narrowly avoiding the swinging claws and tusks. Corporal Kelp lay in a heat to her left, obviously out of magic. Chix was slashed across the throat with a massive claw, dead before he hit the ground. Holly felt a pang of guilt. Under her command, he was her responsibility and she had let him down tremendously.

Once the blue sparks had dissipated, Major Short leaped to her feet in time to see Lili Frond impaled by the troll's tusks. Holly didn't have time to mourn the loss. Ten minutes in, and the mission was a complete shambles. Hoping Terra and Demetri would keep the beast busy, she sprinted toward Grub Kelp.

"Heal." She muttered, placing a hand on his chest. She used the last of her magic to mend him, leaving him snoring on the concrete before scurrying away with his gun, back to the raging troll. Her radio crackled to life, she was out of the dead zone.

"Major Short? Holly?" Trouble answered on the other end.

"I'm here." She said, breathing hard. "We need back-up, _now_."

"I know, we're on our way. Thanks to Foaly, we can kind of see what's going on in there." He paused. "Hold tight, Holly." And then he was gone.

She vaulted over Frond's body and nailed the beast with two neutrino beams. The damned thing just wouldn't die!

Demetri was out cold on the ground, having been wacked by a flailing tusk. Terra held on for dear life on top of the troll's head, a rag doll tossed by the wind. Holly ducked between the troll's legs, coming up in front of it. Before she could turn and shoot, she felt claws rip through her flesh. The beast swiped again before she could duck, it's massive claws ripped through her torso. She crumpled to the ground in pain, fighting for consciousness. Blood spread across the concrete. A blue spark fizzled and died. Healing took a lot, and Grub had gotten most of it.

"Trouble?" She choked into her helmet mike. Static. Another dead zone. She pulled off her helmet so she could breathe deeply. Her mind was hazing over, pain becoming her, encircling her entire being. She was out within seconds.

c c c

Foaly watched the botched operation on the shuttle's plasma screen. The rest of Retrieval One was behind him, with the exception of Commander Trouble Kelp, who watched over the centaur's shoulder.

"This is sooo not good." Foaly commented, adjusting his tin foil hat.

Trouble's jaw tightened in worry and stress.

Another demented swipe from the beast and the E37 camera was taken out. Foaly switched to Holly's helmet cam, just in time to see troll claws and hear the sharp crack of the audio going out. Soon they were in complete darkness, Holly had fallen into a dead zone and was staying there. Foaly brought up the vitals of each of the team, their helmets giving a constant stream of diagnostic information. Captain Frond's had flatlined four minutes earlier, Major Verbil's not long after that. Grub's had nearly gone the same way, but seconds later it had strengthened again. Obviously, he'd been healed. Captain Moray's and Captain Fauna's were beating faster with adrenaline and fear, but nothing life threatening. Holly's had been fine, then gotten worse, then gotten better again. The monitor showed her magic run out, just as Grub got better. Holly's vitals then took a turn for the worst, until her heart was beating way to fast, her blood pressure was low, and her breathing was unsteady.

Foaly and Trouble watched growing anxiety as her health went downhill. Foaly enlarged it to fill the screen, and they waited hoping with all their worth that they might get to her in time. They thought maybe they'd get to her, when suddenly she flatlined.

And just like that, Holly was...gone.

Dead.

"Oh my gods." Foaly muttered, a horrified expression frozen on his face. He'd lost Holly once, he couldn't believe that he'd done.

Trouble stared at the screen blankly, saying nothing, not comprehending the meaning of the flatline running across the screen.

"Trouble..." Foaly said. "I'm so sorry."

"It's gotta be a glitch." Trouble muttered. "She was gonna be ok...she had to be ok..."

Foaly looked unconvinced. Trouble wouldn't believe it till he saw it with his own eyes.

c c c

Trouble lead the way into the chute, heart threatening to burst through his chest. He saw grub first, passed out. The troll had vanished. Captain Moray was on her knees looking dazed. Captain Fauna was out cold, and he could already see the body of Captain Frond, Chix not far from there.

And then there was Holly.

She was laying in a pool of blood, her chest barely moving. Trouble knew she'd been alive- Holly was not that easy to kill. He raced toward her. Placing a hand on her chest, he muttered the usual word of salvation.

"Heal."

The healing took a lot out of him. And she still had lost a lot of blood. Her eyes didn't open, even after the wounds were sealed. He picked her up gently, bringing her to the nearest warlock. His mind had gone into battle mode, disconnecting emotions from actions. He was left shaking, from terror and stress as she was carried away fro further medical attention. He would have time to freak out later.

He moved toward Grub. The man was still sleeping like a baby. Trouble knew he shouldn't have let him go. This was not the kind of thing Grub had a knack for. But his brother _had_ really wanted to go.

He slapped grub hard across the cheek. And then again. Finally, the young elf woke.

"Trubs, why did you do that! I'm telling Mommy!"

"Shut it, Grub. Not today." Trouble growled. "And you will address me as commander in the field, nothing else. Understood?"

Grub muttered something and got to his feet, without so much as the offer of help from his older brother.

He looked around. "Where's Holly?"

"Probably in a hospital by now." Trouble muttered, trying to keep his breathing steady. He sat down on a piece of concrete debris and put his head in his hands. Very un-commander like, he thought. He needed to be strong, for just a few more hours.

He supervised the removal of Retrieval One, and to his horror, two of them in body bags. It was far too late for Lili and Chix. Terra was escorted out, eyes wide, noticeably shaking. The others were trying to get her to say something, but she didn't seem to hear them. He couldn't blame her. After seeing something as gruesome as that, he couldn't imagine what must be going on in her head. They got Demetri up, he wasn't too injured, and he was filling everyone in on what had gone on, the rough timeline of events in E37. The troll was still gone, but despite the fact their was a rogue troll on the loose, that seemed to be on the back burner when compared to the status of Retrieval One.

Trouble stood in the wreckage of E37, hardly believing the events that had gone on in this one chute over the years.

c c c

Everyone was required to wear full dress uniform for the funerals. They didn't have to be told twice.

As if the death of two friends wasn't enough to deal with, Holly was still crushed by her own guilt. She couldn't keep them safe, and now they were dead.

Trouble and Holly were in the second row back, right behind the grieving families. At the end, they stood and saluted, a solemn, final acknowledgement before dispersing.

Holly half limped out of the room, her side still painful from the troll claws. As it turned out, Trouble had got to her just in time. Another few minutes and she would have been beyond healing.

The pair stayed for a few minutes to offer condolences to the families. That was the worst part. LEPrecon had the highest fatality rate, and Trouble had been to his fair share of funerals. As commander, they'd gotten even worse, which was hard to imagine.

Outside, or as outside as you got underground, he stopped Holly before she could take off.

"It's not your fault, Holly." She looked at him skeptically, barely meeting his purple eyes. "No one could have done better than you, under those circumstances. In fact, anyone else probably would have gotten themselves and everyone else killed. You're amazing Holly. You saved those officers, including my brother."

She wiped an arm over her eyes and sniffled discreetly. She hugged him quickly.

"Go home, Holly." He said softly. "You shouldn't have to work today. I'll see you there in a while."

"Come with me." She whispered.

"There's paperwork to be done, regarding the entire affair. But I do plan to leave early."

"Good." She said, giving him a cautiously thankful look. Holly wasn't one for obvious displays emotion. He'd only seen her legitimately cry once.

Without another word, she leaped into flight.

c c c

Trouble wearily unlocked the door to their apartment. A long day it had been, even with skipping out early. He could feel the headache already coming on. His ears twitched irritably.

Inside the small flat, Holly was asleep on the tiny couch, curled up under a blanket. Her eyes had the slightest suggestion of a red rim around them.

He hung up his wings, and moved toward her. Leaning down, he moved a lock of hair from her face. Her mix matched eyes opened immediately, then softened when she saw him.

He gave her a hint of a smile, and then headed toward the narrow kitchen. A day such as this required something strong. Very strong.

He heard rather than saw Holly sit up and throw the blanket off. She followed him into the kitchen, and leaned against one of the counters, watching him pull out two shot glasses and the one bottle of alcohol they'd manage to get their hands on in a city where alcohol was hard to come by. He poured a sliver of _Gammel Dansk, _a particularly shocking Danish drink that literally translated meant "Old Dane". If you really needed to take your mind off things sometimes, _Gammel Dansk_ was for you.

He handed Holly a glass, and leaned against the counter opposite her.

"Cheers." He said. "May Lili Frond and Chix Verbil find peace, wherever they may be."

She nodded and threw back her shot, wincing at the taste. Nothing quite like it.

Her eyes fell on Trouble, melancholy gaze directed out the kitchen's one window, wishing for actual twilight sunshine to come streaming in and envelope him in warmth, whisking away the weight of death.

He spoke suddenly, without looking for her. "I regret the loss of the others, and I feel the guilt of a commanding officer and friend, but, honestly...I'm just glad it wasn't you." He shook his head, smiling forlornly. "_So _glad it wasn't you."

Holly immediately wrapped him in a hug, spanning the kitchen in one stride. She felt something snap inside her. She couldn't hold it in any longer. The tears slid down her cheeks. The only place she felt safe enough to cry was in his arms.

"You're ok." He whispered, trying to calm her, but knowing she had to let it out. He held onto her tightly. "You're ok..."

_Author's note: Yes, a very long chapter. Shall update soon. Please review!_


	5. Surveillance

"Unbelievable." Foaly whinnied. "You two are so unprofessional."

"It's surveillance." Trouble replied. "_And _it's council approved."

"Uh-huh." Foaly grunted. "Well, if your going to call it 'surveillance', then I suppose I'll enforce some equipment on you. Only iris-cams, though, cause I usually don't hate you."

Holly and Trouble exchanged a look. Foaly's jealously about being left behind didn't phase them.

Foaly squinted at Trouble, one eyebrow raised. "A royal purple." He muttered. "Very unique. You have lovely eyes, Commander."

"Um...thanks."

"And Holly," Foaly said looking through jars full of contacts. "Blue or Hazel?"

"Blue." She replied instantaneously. "It _is_ the original owner's wedding."

"And you'll need fake ears." Foaly continued. "These should fit. They are a bit uncomfortable, though. You'll get over it. I hope you two did your homework. If you're going to be pretending to be dwarf humans, then should at least know something about them."

c c c

In the transport shuttle up to Tara, Holly fidgeted uncomfortably.

She wore the only dress she owned, something her mother had given her a while back. She figured this was the only time she'd ever wear it. On top of the restrictively tight dress, she wore high heels and earrings. She was a three foot tall elf in with the gait of a human football player. High heels could burn in hell as far as she was concerned.

"You look nice." Trouble said, straightening his tie, looking equally uncomfortable in formal his formal black suit. Holly grunted in answer.

They arrived at the surface, and after being told once again that this mission was purely surveillance, just to make sure the mudboy wasn't doing anything they should know about, they were finally each given a pair of wings.

They lifted lightly from the ground and enjoyed the cool, late August Irish sunset. The breeze was perfect, making the weather just right. They flew toward the setting sun.

Fowl Manor came into view quickly, but they heard it from miles away with their elf hearing. The 14th century mansion was packed full of people, their voices and laughter carrying out over the countryside.

They shielded and landed silently around back. They then smoothed their ruffled clothes and otherwise tried to look like they hadn't just soared over most of Ireland. They slid on the fake ears, and their pointed ears disappeared.

Holly glanced at Trouble. "Shall we?"

"We shall."

They linked arms, as real humans would at a formal gathering, and walked around the house, joining the crowd in front. They'd missed the actual service- the council hadn't approved that part. They were only allowed to go the reception, and Holly intended to make it awesome.

The party seemed half inside and half outside on the front lawn. Music played from somewhere. As they joined the crowd, it seemed as if everyone went silent as they stared. Some of the richest, most powerful, and most shady business people mixed in with a few family friends.

Holly sighed. "Humans." She muttered, so only Trouble could hear. He rolled his eyes in agreement.

Luckily for them, Artemis appeared out of thin air just as things got uncomfortable. His pale features had a slight happy glow to them, and he had the sleeves of his designer suit rolled up, which is about as casual as Artemis Fowl ever got.

"Holly, Trouble, good to see you." He said. Then, to the people nearest, btu loud enough so everyone could hear, he continued. "Two of my oldest friends."

Holly almost chuckled at the double meaning.

"We're dwarf people." Trouble added helpfully. Holly wondered if actual human dwarfs announced it like that. She had know way of knowing.

Everyone nodded, excepting the explanation for the odd guests.

Initially, the two elves had though about using pseudonyms, at least for Trouble. But they decided that Trouble could be a formal nickname, maybe a military byname. It would do.

Minerva appeared, looking stunning in her long white gown, her blonde locks done up nicely. She had the same happy glow. Holly wondered momentarily if everyone had that glow at their own wedding, if _she_ would have that glow.

As they followed Artemis through the crowd, Holly couldn't help but notice the way Artemis talked to everyone respectfully, greeted people. Despite the fgact he'd probably had a higher IQ then most of these people since before he hit puberty, he seemed to actually have an interest in what they had to say, and didn't treat people like imbeciles. The 25 year old Artemis Fowl the second was obviously a lot different then his twelve year old self.

At the door, Minerva strolled through, but Artemis paused, not having forgotten anything about fairy law.

"Would you like to come in?" He said softly as they stood, poised on the threshold.

"Yes," Holly replied. "Yes, we would."

"Than you may."

She touched his arm gratefully as she crossed into the dwelling. Something so simple.

The night wound on without a hiccup. Holly talked to a lot of different mudmen about her dwarfness, having to make up some of it as she went, like her feelings toward her height. As an elf, it wasn't something she worried about very much.

At some point, Holly looked over to see Trouble having an animated conversation with Butler, Juliet, and Juliet's husband, a british guy who had been involved with the shadier, supernatural side of corporate espionage, Simon Eames. Obviously, Trouble had gotten over the smashing of his retrieval team by a younger Butler during the Fowl Siege. Holly had seen the scar where the bullet had entered Trouble's neck.

Holly managed to find Artemis again in the throng of people.

"A strange musical choice." She commented. "I did not think 'Singing in the Rain' would go well with your tastes."

"Well," He replied. Not meeting her eyes. "I do occasionally like to get in touch with my juvenile side."

Holly laughed before she could stop herself. "You didn't even do that when you _were_ a juvenile! Artemis, if there's one thing you can't do, it's lying about matters of the heart."

He sighed wearily, and spoke softly. "Minerva's pregnant. It came to light last week. Of course, we'd already been planning to marry, and so this announcement changes nothing. In fact, you could say I am...excited."

Holly's eyebrows raised in complete surprise. Artemis Fowl, excited? It was a freaking oxymoron. She quickly recovered with something witty to bite back. "You humans! You breed like rodents! Gods above!" Then, she added. "I am quite happy for you though, Artemis. Wonderful news."

He gave her a genuine smile. She hoped he wasn't going insane again. That had been a real pain in the ass. She guessed he'd just matured.

"Thank you, Holly."

Later, Trouble met her at one of the many catering tables. Artemis new how to get food that wasn't coated in chemicals, that's for sure. Despite the animal products.

"Holly," Trouble breathed into her hair, an arm wrapped around her waist in the front. She leaned into him as he spoke so no one else could hear. She felt his warm breath on her skin.

"Don't look now, but Mulch Diggums has just arrived."

"Fuck!" She tensed. "What the hell does he think he's doing here?"

Since he'd left the LEP, Mulch had mysteriously fallen off the map, and the LEP had decided they'd look the other way for a while so they didn't have to deal with him.

"I guess he didn't know we were coming." Trouble replied.

"My Gods! Couldn't he atleast _pretend_ to have some sense?"

"This is Mulch Diggums. He can't spell _pretend._"

She almost laughed. "Ok, I'll go say he's my cousin. With luck, he'll catch on."

c c c

As it turned out, Mulch Diggums wasn't quite as stupid as he looked, despite his lack of education.

When Holly told everyone in a six foot radius that he was her cousin, though he was not happy to be called an elf, he played along like a good person. It's not like he didn't owe Holly his life and career a few times over.

The fact was, he missed his mudmen friends, having not been able to see them for the last seven years. He wouldn't miss this wedding for anything.

The party went on long into the night, and Holly actually enjoyed herself.

Somewhere around midnight, she found herself dozing in Trouble's lap, his warm arms around her waist, and lulled breathing begging her to sleep.

"Holly?" He said.

"Hmm?" She shifted her head, which leaned against his chest, brushing his chin.

"You wanna marry me?"

She didn't hesitate. She didn't need to. "Yeah, I think I do."

"Good."

And that was that.

c c c

The party wound down around 3 am.

After hugging several tipsy humans multiple times, the two elves departed, leaving Mulch to his own facilities. Assuming he didn't get too drunk and start spewing fairy secrets, they'd be ok. Rumor was that Mulch was a very sensible drunk.

They flew the lovely Irish landscape slowly, relaxedly, back to Tara, where a shuttle was waiting for them.

The streets of Haven were lit only by streetlights, casting a white LED glow over the shady business of goblins in the alleyways. The scurried away at the sight of the cops ambling along back toward the Police Plaza.

Inside the nerve center of the LEP, Foaly glared at them grumpily, dressed in pajamas with dark circles under his eyes.

"You could have gotten back at a decent hour." He grumbled as they handed over their iris cams and fake ears.

"You wouldn't have wanted to leave either, if you'd been there." Holly said, her pointy ears twitching in straightening.

"I _was_ there." He replied, tapping a jar of iris cams. "Great 'surveillance' work, I must say. You guys were really on the ball, never losing focus or anything. Not even during the wedding proposal."

Holly and Trouble exchanged an embarrassed look.

"Yeah, I saw that." Foaly continued. "Honestly, you two can be so thick sometimes."

"Foaly, don't tell anyone." Trouble said, before the centaur could trot out of the room. "Not yet."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Discretion. Blah blah blah." The centaur clopped out.

They walked home.

Holly unlocked the door, and they had just enough time to get out of their uncomfortable dress clothes before crashing into the bed.

Her final thoughts before sleep took her were something along the lines of _I'm Home._

Home.

_Author's Note: Well, that's it for now. I may add chapters at a later date, if an idea hits me in the head with a hammer. But I might just post it as a one-shot. We'll see._


End file.
